hold me down, i'm so tired now

“I’ve got you, little man,” Indie coos into the palm of her hand. What lay inside was a viceroy butterfly with a ripped wing, and a single orange slice. Indie had saved butterflies before, but she hadn’t the tools with her to repair it. Her options were to let it die, or try to cut the other wing to match the flight pattern. In the mean time, squatted down on the sidewalk, peeled orange next to her on the sidewalk. “I’m not going anywhere. It’s you and me, buddy.”

Rowan walked slowly towards the center of town. She had seven beautiful dollars in her pocket that she was going to spend at the dollar store, an amount of money that really made a difference in the brunette’s stomach and pantry. She hoped they still had those frozen veggie nuggets.. As she counted the money for the billionth time, Rowan almost walked straight into a girl sitting on the sidewalk, avoiding her in the last second as she regained her balance on a nearby lamppost. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you, I’m so sorry!” She said in a hurry, trying to see if she had harmed the stranger in any way. “Did I hurt you? I am so so sorry.”

Danny was walking back from the magic castle motel after stopping in on his mom during her lunchbreak, THE WEEKENDS FUCKING SUCKED. especially ones where his mom was working and his dad was hanging around the house DRINKING and SMOKING and INJECTING whatever SHIT he could get his hands on. The teenager looks up and notes the DARKENING sky, great, it’s probably gonna rain. That’s just what they need. As he crosses the road, he notes a familiar face, and in typical Danny fashion, he can’t help but walk over to have a look at whatever it is that’s captured her attention. ‘‘ woah, what’s up with the SEAT in the TREE? ’’

Rowan was about to untie her shoe when she heard a very familiar voice piping up behind her. “Um... Well. It’s something people like to do. To my bike. That’s my seat up there... And I kinda need it but it’s really wedged in there.” She added with a heavy sigh, fiddling with the hem of her hoodie. She turned to Danny, knowing that neither one of them had much to brag about in the height department. “Any suggestions, neighbor?”

Lightly toasted from the oil cartridge that rested in his shirt pocket, Felix wanted to go on a walk, and on a walk he went. Before he could even get into a walk, there was Rowan, right in front of him. She seemed upset about something, so he didn’t want to yell across the street. He crossed after some a soccer mom drove by and stood by her side, looking up at the same problem she was facing; a bike seat in a tree. Not the problem he anticipated, but a problem he was okay with. “You know, you should probably glue thumb tacks to the bottom of that thing.”

Rowan grimaced as she looked up at Felix and then back at her seat on the tree. “I did that with actual nails... They took them and used them to pinch one of my tires.” A dejected shrug, “And also I’m not sure about putting sharp, pokey things so close to the place where I sit...” She blushed a little and finally turned to face her friend. “Hi, Fee. Looking as handsome as ever.”

With another sigh, she looked around but she didn’t see any familiar faces. She had to make it home before Father was home or before it rained... God knew her rickety bike could barely take regular pavement let alone water and puddles. And she did not want to make him angry before a long weekend, whether he was going to work or not. 

So Rowan took one last look around and started throwing her water bottle at the tree, waiting to see if her seat would just fall down.

Basic Information

Full Name: Rowan Diane Pearson.

Nickname(s): Ro, Ro-Ro, Row, Rowie.

Age: 16.

Date of Birth: May 20th, 2002.

Hometown: Oahu, Hawaii.

Ethnicity: White.

Nationality: American.

Gender: Cisfemale.

Pronouns: She/her/hers.

Orientation: panromantic & asexual.

Religion: Atheist.

Political Affiliation: Liberal libertarian.

Occupation: Student.

Living Arrangements: Lives with her father in a two bedroom apartment in a dilapidated low income complex. (X)

Language(s) Spoken: English, Spanish, Hawaiian, French.

Accent: Neutral American.

Physical Appearance

Face Claim: Adelaide Kane.

Hair Colour: Dark brown.

Eye Colour: Brown.

Height: 5′1 (1.55 m)

Weight: 80 lbs (36 kg)

Build: Extremely skinny.

Tattoos: None atm.

Piercings: Just her earlobes.

Clothing Style: Loose, long-sleeved shirts, worn out skinny jeans, oversized hoodies and usually red converse sneakers.

Usual Expression: Sad Puppy™️

Distinguishing Characteristics: Rowan is always slouching, like she is carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Her fidgety hands are always hidden in the oversized sleeves of her hoodies. Has been known to often sport a poorly concealed bruise or scrape somewhere on her face.

Family

Father: Angelo Pearson/48/trucker for hire.

Mother: Amelia Pearson/43/unknown.

Sibling(s): Felix. None.

Children: None.

Pet(s): None and it’s the saddest thing.

Family’s Financial Status: Dirt Poor™️ as in Rowan tries to make ten bucks last for a whole month with dollar store things because it’s all her dad will give her if he’s in a not terrible mood.

Naomi couldn’t wait for a chance to explore the stalls later. Her uncle had set aside a couple breaks for her and her brother and given them a little bit of spending money ( a lot of spending money, in her eyes. $40 dollars for her, $25 for him. ) but her next one was still at least half an hour away. Which was good, she supposed, because she’d like to go to Rowan’s booth while she was working it.

She raised an eyebrow curiously. To her uncle’s great disappointment, Naomi didn’t quite get the hype for literature, research books, and non-fiction. It wasn’t as if she hated it and she was quite a good reader, but it wasn’t something she absolutely fell in love with and she’d never collect so many. “You got really lost, dude…and out of all the books here, you got lost in a book about Russia’s geobotany? What about his annotated, collector Great Gatsby or something? It’s a little pricier, but far more interesting.”

Rowan’s cheeks blushed a little and she shrugged, her finger carefully marking the spot where she was reading, “Uh... Very, very lost. Like I’m in Siberia kind of lost.” She excused herself sheepishly. “Well, uh...” She stared at the Great Gatsby, she had purposely ignored said copy. “I’ve already read that at least twice and I’m not a very big fan of novels... It’s silly but I’d much rather have three books with geobotany information that I don’t know than one novel that I already read.” Her hand absentmindedly stroked the spine of the Russia book, as if telling it not to worry. “Plus, there’s so many real Fitzgerald fans and collectors out there that I’m sure your uncle could get so much more than what I have to offer. I like geobotany. And histology. And ethology. And... dogs.” She added, placing her hand on the next book on her pile.

@spearpearson

Naomi was bored out of her mind. It wasn’t like the book stall wasn’t making money - but it was slow and her uncle chatted up guests like it was his profession, sharing knowledge about the books, showing them his annotations and why they tell a story of their own - she stayed quiet, watching students pass. Well, most of them anyway. Rowan had been practically buried in a pile, sifting through books, reading excerpts, feeling them…she thinks she saw Rowan sniff a couple.

“You okay over there, Ro? I think it’s been ten minutes.”

Rowan was made to take a break from painting the ornaments. She had been at it since the Market opened, looking for shelter from the cold and it had been so much more entertaining than expected. She had drawn names, favorite animals and cartoons on the baubles and now there were a few dollar bills tucked inside her frayed winter jacket. To restock a little bit of the fridge, to keep saving to pay the water bill and get warmer clothes from Goodwill. 

And then Naomi’s uncle’s books happened. She thought she could get just one, she deserved it. But how to choose? They were vintage and looked well read, just like the brunette liked them. She was completely lost in the world of Russia’s geobotany when she heard her friend, poking out of her pile of books, “Uh, yes. Hi. Ten minutes already? How... I mean, I just... Russia occupies one tenth of the land on Earth. Like one tenth. A-And Siberia’s pine forests are called taigas. Siberia occupies three-quarters of Russia, Naomi. That’s like... Like a lot of taiga. ”

“My Dad’s making sure we get there nice and early for the Market on Saturday morning, as in crack of dawn early. He’s still kind of the new guy in the department so he’s trying to make a good impression- which means I’m volunteering too. I’m on the hot drinks stand since apparently, Northlake is lacking qualified baristas with time on their hands,” she explained with a shrug, “Are you volunteering?”

Rowan picked at a hole in her gloves as she listened to her friend, “Like how early? What time does the Market even open?” It was good to have Nik’s dad around, with everything that had been happening. “That sounds like fun! You get to have hot chocolate all day, right?” The brunette nodded, “Yeah. I’m on the ornament decorating stand. I embarrassed myself by bringing some designs as if I was applying for an actual job. They liked them and thought the whole thing was cute, so I’ll be there.”

For once, color in all the wrong places. 

Rowan is extremely right: things are very bad right now. Just when you get comfortable living in this town again, the Boogeyman loves to remind you not to cozy. But she doesn’t want to think about it. It’s not about that right now. “Okay.” She squeezes Rowan’s hand when she feels the other girl takes hers. “Then we’ll go. Okay?” With her other, she touches Rowan’s cheek, using her thumb to wipe away a falling tear before tucking the girl into her side, arm resting over her shoulders as they begin to walk. “We’ll watch Disney movies, drink hot cocoa or tea, whatever’s more relaxing, and we’ll just be lazy, okay? Blankets on blankets, pillow mountain. It’ll be good,” she promises.

Rowan knows she has her own army of personal demons, that strike every day, at every hour. For a while, she used to not be that scared of the Boogeyman, after all, she had her own Boogeyman living at home. Plus, what did she have that it could possibly want? She had nothing, she was nobody. Until Danny and Felix. They were like her. But what worried her the most was the Boogeyman getting any closer to her people. Tess, Irene, Cammie... The thought was waking her up during the very little sleep she got. Rowan nods, taking a deep breath and leaning into Cammie’s side, relishing the warmth and how safe she feels with her. “Okay, yeah. That sounds great. Hot cocoa and The Jungle Book, maybe?” She nuzzles into the taller girl as they walk, feeling like she’s leaving some demons behind. “I want our pillow blanket.” With nobody else but Cammie.

“Eh, it was kind of a big deal. I mean, I didn’t really care but my… I guess friend group did, so it was pretty nuts.” He shrugs. He remembers Wesley talking shit about Northlake all of the time and how they had to do this and that to one up them but thankfully Bellamy had an excuse most of the time to get out of it. Like babysitting. “Awesome,” the boy comments, grinning. “Well, I can like wait for you by the entrance after school or something and we can go pick up Peyton together and then head to Dairy’s,” he suggests. Then– “I can give you my phone number and stuff too just in case, you know if I or you end up running late or anything.” He remembers to say, already digging into his backpack for a piece of scrap paper and a pen until he remembers, “Wait, or maybe you can just put your number into my phone?” He shakes his head then. Yeah, that’s a better idea. Save trees and all. He swings his backpack to rest against his back again and takes his phone out of his jacket pocket instead. “Here.” He swipes his phone unlocked and hands it to Rowan. “That’s Peyton and my mom by the way,” he tells her, referring to his home screen wallpaper. It’s a photo of the three of them at Friends of Mine for an impromptu brunch. It’s covered by some apps but you can still kind of see their faces in the spaces.

“Was it hard? Coming from there to here?”, She asked softly, “If you don’t mind me asking.” Always cautious, but her caution usually kept her from getting to know people better. And she wanted to know Bellamy better. Rowan nods, feeling more relaxed and letting herself smile gently, “Sure, I’ll be right there... Oh, right. That’s a better idea.” She digs around her worn backpack for her phone, with its embarrassingly shattered screen. It’s always better this way because the last thing she wants is a potential friend getting stabbed by a wayward piece of glass. A bigger smile blooms across her cheeks, “Oh, you’re all so cute... You have such a cute family.” She ignores the pang of longing, pushing it back as usual. She didn’t even have a picture of herself with her mom to use as her phone background. She was gone before Rowan had her first phone. Carefully, she puts in her number and hands it back, “There, now I can always be within reach. Y’know, for babysitting or for anything.”

“You think I do this expecting something in return? No. I mean if I ever do need a favor, I’ll let you know. But this isn’t something you need to repay,” she replied, shaking her head and looking over some of the other clothes that they had picked out. “I just think that you have a smokin’ bod that deserves to be shown off. Plus I think that new clothes can also do wonders to someone’s self-confidence, which is something that we need to work on.”

“I know you don’t...”, Rowan said softly. “But it just feels like I should do something nice for you back. I’m a people pleaser, it’s like a compulsion.”, she added with a shrug. Oh, Rowan was not expecting that she was terrible with compliments, so she blushed as red as Rudolph’s nose and wrapped her arms around herself awkwardly. “Thanks... Thank you, Mari. A little self confidence wouldn’t be that bad to have.”

“You’re not going to look like Puss in Boots. They’re riding boots. At least that’s what the style is called. They look nice and you need some nice things. Especially for fall and winter. They don’t even have a heel on them. I wouldn’t make you look ridiculous,” Marissa promised. “She’s ten, sweetie. I think you’re safe in keeping these.”

Rowan chuckled and hid half of her face behind the long sleeve of the sweater, “I do. I mean... Back in Hawaii I didn’t really need anything thicker than a light sweatshirt. When the temperature drops below seventy around here I struggle.” But the sweater Mari had given her was so nice and soft and Rowan felt like wearing it every day. She smiled gratefully again, “Okay. I just... I just really don’t know what to do to repay you, Mari. This is so much. I feel like I should take your SATs or do your laundry forever or something.”

despite her usual clueless nature regarding certain things, eli still wasn’t a fool. she knew most students in northlake were still skeptic about her due to her social standing, but it was something she always pursued to change. after all, bee or not, she didn’t wanted to be seen as tilly’s sidekick by all means no matter what people assumed. so she offered the girl a bright smile. “yeah, you.” she assured, motioning towards the cupcake table. “it’s for everyone.” she explained, before nodding. “ —and of course ! strawberry is my favorite, so it’s definitely the best choice.” she announced quickly, taking one to hand the girl over. 

It took a few more seconds for Rowan to realize she wasn’t actually dreaming and she was actually being addressed by the Queen Bee. She looked too smiley and genuine to have put something inside the cupcake. And it seemed like too much effort to have made cupcakes just to throw them at people’s faces. So Rowan smiled shyly and took the cupcake. “I agree. Um, this was very kind of you. You didn’t have to...” Fishing a pen from her backpack, Rowan took an extra napkin and made a quick doodle, handing it to the girl. “Um, here. As kind of a thank you.”

“Perfect! Sounds like you guys will be best buds in no time. And I say that with a lot of confidence because Peyton probably gets along better with people that are like 10 years older than her. Pretty sure she’s like 30 and a professor on the inside,” Bellamy jokes before chuckling. “Oh well, maybe keep one of those things in handy or something? Just to show my mom in case she cares about that kind of thing but I’m pretty sure you’re like super cool as is. My neighbors say all sorts of great stuff about you,” he shares. And perhaps Bellamy is a little too trusting of what some people say, but why would anyone lie about a babysitter? Seems like a pretty useless thing to lie about. Plus, Rowan seems really nice. He thinks that thought at least 20 times whenever he interacts with her – which, this is just like the second time – but he still thinks that’s a good sign. “That’s no problem, dude. I’m happy to drive you like anywhere. I like driving. Plus, I’ve got killer playlists to keep me company and stuff so I actually like being in the car,” Bellamy assures her. “Wait, really? That’s like– I dunno, but you totally deserve compensation or whatever. I’m sure my mom won’t let you leave without giving you something. She even bakes cookies whenever we hire a plumber to fix stuff, so you’re probably gonna end up with a fee either way.” If there’s anything Bellamy’s mom is a stickler about, it’s letting people know she appreciates them. She’s like a super good gift giver too because of it. 

“Totally, that’s a super good point. That’s kind of what I relied on when I had to make the team back in Southbank. Those dudes totally lack strategy. It’s probably why we lost to Northlake a lot.” Bellamy chuckles, oddly comfortable joking about his past teammates. “Are you doing anything after school today? Maybe we can like go to Dairy’s or something on me with my little sister? I have to pick her up from school today because my mom’s got a thing.” A date. Or an actual work thing. He’s not sure. “You guys can get to know each other and maybe it’ll be awesome and stuff?”

Rowan laughs quietly, fiddling with her long sleeves, “She does sound amazing. I’m sure she’s gonna make it big when she grows up and I’ll be honored to have met her.” She nods, “Absolutely. I keep my babysitting resume and a couple of recommendation letters in my phone so I can just pull them up whenever.” She keeps blushing and rubs her face self-consciously, “Your neighbors are being too kind. They... I just... Well, they have kids that are really behaved and that makes everything so much easier. But I do have a way with brats because sometimes they just want to feel heard.” She shrugs, it’s usually about trying to put herself in the children’s shoes. Children are smart and genuine and insightful, so much easier to communicate with than most people give them credit for. She smiles softly, “That sounds fun, Bellamy. And very, very kind of you.” Tugging gently on a strand of her hair, Rowan explains softly, “The families I work for are already nice enough to trust me and letting me into their houses for a bit. It feels rude to ask for more.” A small chuckle, “But I surely will not refuse cookies.”

The short brunette nods,  “I know almost nothing about Southbank. When I got here a few months ago, everyone was talking about the rivalry but I could not keep up.” And then kids started going missing and turning up dead. “Oh,” The question catches her by surprise but lately’s been harder and harder to be alone with her thoughts. “I don’t have any plans, I was just going to head down to the library but I would love to meet Peyton.” She nods again, with more gusto, feeling actually excited. “Yeah, that sounds like a lot of fun.”